the nation? Because it secures the most power to confer benefits and
enjoyment on others? Why is the station of a president, a governor,
or a judge so honourable? Because they have great power given them to
use for the happiness of others. Why is the office of a minister of
the gospel honourable? Because his education, character and office
give him great powers to do good. Why are rich men considered more
honourable than poor? Because their money gives them power to increase
the happiness of others. They can give employment to the poor, can give
custom to the shopkeepers and tradesmen, can bestow money on charitable
objects, can secure a superior education, and many other agreeable
things that make it pleasant to others to associate with them. Why are
persons of talent and learning honourable? Because their talents and
knowledge give them power in various ways to promote their own interest
and to do good to others.
The mere possession, then, of a power to do good, is what makes one
station more honourable than another. But another thing that makes a
station honourable, is the actual _using of this power_ in doing good.
If kings and queens are selfish and wicked, and use their power to
oppress their people, they are never as much honoured as when they use
it to do good.
If presidents, governors, and judges use their power to do evil, they
are not honoured like those who use it to do good. If a minister of
the gospel uses his influence to do harm rather than good, he is
more despised than he is honoured. If rich people spend their wealth
in selfish indulgences, or in harmful vices, they are not honoured as
they would be, if they spent it for useful and benevolent purposes. If
persons who have talents and learning, spend their time and influence
to do evil, they are not honoured or respected as they would be, if
they employed them to do good.
Now I think you clearly see, that the two things which make a station
honourable are, the power to do good, and the use of this power in a
proper manner. If, then, I can show that domestics have great power
to do good given them, and that they really use this power in doing
good, I shall prove that the station of a domestic is an honourable
and respectable one. And if I can show that domestics have more power,
and actually do more good, than many who think themselves above them,
I shall prove, too, that they have the more honourable and respectable
station. I will therefore point out the power of doing good which is
given to domestics. In the first place, then, they do more than any
other class of persons to sustain that most important institution of
God, _the family state_. How much benefit and comfort mankind receive
through this institution, few of us can realize. To help you to do so,
just imagine the state of things in this country, if all the _homes_ in
the land were broken up, and all classes of persons herded together in
common, like flocks of animals.
In this case the father and husband would have no quiet home to go to
for comfort, and the mother would have no house of her own where she
could train her children. Every child, too, would be turned out into
the community to take care of itself, with no parents to watch over
it by day and night, no brothers and sisters to sleep and play with,
no regular meal to call all the children together around their kind
parents.
In a cold and selfish world, without guardians, without a home, without
parental restraint and tenderness, each young child would go into the
common herd, to grow up selfish, unhappy, unloving and unloved.
Instead of this, God ordains that parents shall have a home of their
own, where they can have their children to themselves, to train them
up in love and peace and plenty. And one main support of this blessed
institution of family and home is, those domestics who are hired to do
the chief labours of the family. Just take away from this country all
the cooks, chambermaids, waiters, washers, and house cleaners, and what
would be the result? The fathers could not leave their business to do
the family work, the mothers would not have strength to do it, and the
family state would be broken up. And thus unnumbered miseries and crime
would come in floods upon the land.
The position and the work of a domestic, then, are among the most
useful, the most important and the most honourable. They have a power
given them to do good and to save from evil, not surpassed by that
of any other class in the community. Let any one select the class of
persons that could be dispensed with _last of all_, and it would be
found that lawyers, merchants, doctors, and ministers would all be
given up, before every family would agree to give up all aid from
cooks, washers, nurses and every kind of hired service in the family.
But, in addition to the power thus given to domestics in sustaining the
family state, they have another most important position of usefulness.
This relates to the power they exercise in forming the characters of
young children. The period of life from infancy to twelve years old, is
the time in which the foundations of future character are laid. During
this time, children are in the society of domestics almost as much as
they are with their parents, and in many cases, they talk with those
hired to take care of them much more than they do with their parents.
Children are creatures of imitation and sympathy, and they soon learn
to think, and feel and act like those around them. Of course domestics
are constantly exerting a powerful influence in forming the opinions,
tastes, habits, and character of children, more so, probably, than any
other class in the community. To estimate this power properly, we must
remember that the happiness of children depends almost entirely on the
character they form. If they learn to control their appetites, to be
honest, truthful, benevolent, and industrious, they will be useful and
happy in future life. If they do not learn to control their appetites,
if they learn to be deceitful, dishonest, selfish and irritable, they
certainly will be unhappy and unprosperous. And our whole nation is to
be made up of children, whose happiness and prosperity will depend, to
a great degree, on the influences exerted over them by domestics in
early life. And the next generation is to depend, for happiness and
prosperity, on the manner in which the present generation is trained.
And the next after that, depends in like manner, on the one before
it, so that the influence which domestics exert on one generation of
children is to go down to generation after generation, for hundreds of
years.
And yet, this is not half of the mighty power, which is given to
domestics to use, either for good or for evil. All these children,
who from generation to generation are thus influenced in character,
by domestics who take care of them, are to _live forever_, and their
happiness for endless ages, is to depend on the character which they
form in this life! Oh eternity! eternity! who can estimate the power of
those who are doing so much, in forming the character of beings who can
_never, never die_!
Another particular in which domestics have great power is, the
influence they exert in making home pleasant to husbands and sons. In a
family where most of the work is done regularly and well, by domestics,
the mother has time to take good care of her children, and her mind
is cheerful and free from excessive cares. In this case, the husband
and sons find a comfortable and pleasant home, and are not tempted to
resort to dangerous amusements abroad. But when every thing is going
wrong in the kitchen and nursery, the wife and mother is perplexed and
harassed, and often is low-spirited or irritable. The father and sons,
when they come home, find the house in disorder, their food ill cooked
and served, their linen out of order, their beds uncomfortable, the
housekeeper gloomy, the children unregulated, and every thing seems to
drive them off to look for a more cheerful and comfortable resort. Many
and many a husband and son has thus been driven to temptations and
snares, that have drawn them and their families to misery and ruin.
Another power for doing good given to domestics is, their opportunities
for comforting and relieving the sick. Sickness always makes a great
deal of work, and were it not for domestics, the sick would suffer
greatly for want of nursing and many comforts. No persons owe more
to domestics than those who, by sickness, are deprived of all power
to take care of themselves. I might point out other particulars in
which domestics have it in their power to do great good, but surely
enough has been presented to show, that if _great power to do good_ is
what entitles persons to be called honourable, then domestics have a
pre-eminent claim.
But it has been shown, that it is not only the power to do good, but
the actual _use_ of this power that entitles a person to honour and
respect. Here, also, domestics will be found to have a claim equal to
that of any other class of persons. It will be found, that there are
individuals in every class of society, who do not use their power well.
There are bad kings and bad governors, bad rich men and bad learned
men, and sometimes there are bad ministers of the gospel. So, also,
there are bad domestics. But, as a class, I believe domestics use their
power for the benefit, rather than the injury of society, as much so
as any other class. Most of the work, that is necessary to sustain the
family state, is actually done by them, the sick are taken care of by
their help, children are nursed and taken care of by them, and the
comfort of a family is promoted by their services, to a degree never
realized till their help is gone.
No class in the community do more in promoting the comfort, health, and
prosperity of society than domestics. It thus appears, that they are
an honourable and respectable class in society, not only because they
have great power to do good, but because they actually use this power
beneficially, to a very great extent.
LETTER VI.
The reasons why the station of a domestic is not regarded as so
honourable as it really is.
My Friends:
It is probable that, while reading the previous letter, you have
thought to yourselves, but why, if domestics are so honourable in
station and office, are they not regarded so? Why are they not treated
with honour and respect? Why is their situation spoken of as one of the
lowest and least honourable?
I will point out some of the reasons for this.
One reason is, the remains of _aristocratic notions_ in our country,
which lead people to feel that labour is degrading, and to honour
persons, rather for the kind of work they are employed in, than for
their character.
I will first explain what I mean by _aristocratic notions_. We are
descended from the English nation, and their plan of government is
exactly opposite to ours. I have shown you that our plan of government
is like that adopted by the shipwrecked company. Nobody is required
to give up any thing, or to do any thing but what is for the good of
_the whole community_. Though our lot in life is decided by the God
of Heaven, yet we make our own rules and laws, choose our own rulers
and overseers, and nobody is obliged to do any thing, which is not as
necessary for his own good, as it is for the good of all the rest.
But in aristocratic lands, it is very much as it was in the story when
the strongest, by fighting, got the best of every thing, while the
weakest were obliged to take the poorest of every thing. In England
all the power is in the hands of the queen, a few nobles, and a small
portion of the richest and best educated people, and for age after age
it has been so. In consequence of this, the laws and customs of that
nation have been made to benefit this small portion of the nation, so
that most of the wealth has been accumulated in their hands, while the
great body of the people are miserably poor.
The wealth is so unequally divided, that while some receive incomes
from their parents, or from the king or queen, large enough to support
whole villages, thousands around them, though ever so industrious and
virtuous, cannot earn more than a few cents a day by twelve or fourteen
hours of hard labour.
This has been the state of things in England for hundreds of years. In
consequence of this, those who have had the most wealth have lived in
ease and indolence, and have considered labour as degrading. The rich
and the noble have felt as if it was the business of poor and ignorant
people to toil, and that living in indolence was a privilege, and the
mark to distinguish the gentleman and the lady, from the vulgar and low
born.
As we are descended from that nation, we have inherited a good deal of
this feeling, so that even now, when a woman lives in perfect idleness,
it is very common to say, that she “is living like _a lady_, with
nothing to do but enjoy herself.” So we often find that a lounging,
ignorant coxcomb, if he happens to have money to enable him to dress
well, is called “a gentleman;” while a man of ten times the sense,
education and usefulness is not so regarded, because he works with his
hands for his own support. But things are gradually altering in this
country, in regard to this matter, and it is becoming more and more
honourable to work, and more and more discreditable to be useless and
idle.
Yet a great change is to be accomplished before _all_ aristocratic
notions are so shaken off, that a man or woman will be honoured for
usefulness, good manners, good sense and good principles, without any
regard to the _kind of work_ by which a livelihood is earned. When this
time comes, if a woman has a refined education, good manners, and good
principles, she will be as much honoured and respected as a domestic,
as she would be in any other sphere of life.
Another reason why the station of a domestic is not regarded as
honourable is, because most persons have wrong ideas about doing good
and being useful.
To understand this, you will observe that when ladies have a great deal
of money and leisure, they spend the greater part of their time in
dressing, visiting, reading, and enjoying themselves in various ways.
And yet if they take one afternoon in a week to go around and visit
the poor and sick—if they distribute tracts, and give a very small
portion of their income for benevolent purposes, they are spoken of as
remarkably useful persons, and are honoured because they do so much
good.
But if a woman goes around day after day to help mothers make up
clothes for their children, or if a woman works from morning till night
in the kitchen, to make a family comfortable, this is not called _doing
good_. Though the sempstress and domestic spend the whole of their
time in earning their own support, and at the same time, contribute
more than almost any class of persons to the comfort and enjoyment of
others, they are not spoken of as persons who are living to do good.
But if a woman is supported by the labour of others, and spends the
most of her time in occupations that merely gratify herself, and not
one tenth part of her time or money, in a way that benefits others,
still she is commended and admired as one who is eminent for “doing
good.”
Now this is a mistaken mode of estimating usefulness. Those who are
constantly doing something to promote the comfort of others should feel
that they are “doing good,” as their _daily business_; while those who
give only odd intervals for the benefit of others, and seek their own
pleasure the rest of the time, should feel that they are the least
useful part of the community. According to this, when the young ladies
of a family, who have wealth, education and leisure, spend most of
their time in seeking their own amusement, then those domestics, who
toil all day in the kitchen for the comfort of others, are the most
useful persons; and if they perform their duties properly, deserve to
be the most respected and esteemed.
The last reason why the station of domestics is not regarded as
honourable is, that the persons who have been in this station have,
ordinarily, been persons destitute of education and good manners. This
has been more their misfortune than their fault, and it is a difficulty
not easily remedied. But it is very certain that a person who has a
good education and good manners, is deserving of more respect, and
always will receive more respect, than one who is ignorant, rude,
vulgar and ill-mannered. And if all the domestics in this land were
suddenly changed into refined, well bred, well educated persons, you
would find that there would be as sudden a change in public feeling,
and then the station of a domestic would be regarded as genteel,
honourable, and respectable, far more than it now is.
This is an advantage rather than an evil, for it tends to influence
domestics to improve their minds and cultivate their manners, so that
they may be worthy of the respect and honour which they would thus
secure.
LETTER VII.
Reasons why the station of a domestic is a desirable one, and
superior to that of a sempstress, a shop girl, or a factory
girl.
My Friends:
I will now point out some of the reasons for considering your situation
in life a desirable one, and far superior in advantages to many
employments usually regarded as more respectable.
To understand this properly, we must bear in mind that our happiness,
here and hereafter, depends chiefly on the _character_ which we form.
A woman that is selfish, irritable, proud, indolent and ambitious,
can never be happy. Give her wealth and leisure, and beauty, and high
standing in society, and a superior education, and all the comforts
and luxuries that wealth secures, and yet she will be discontented and
unhappy. She will always find some one richer, or handsomer, or better
educated, or more admired than herself. She will always find something
about her different from what she wishes, that will make her fretful
and irritable. This, with her pride and selfishness, will lead people
to dislike and talk against her, so that while she is longing for love
and admiration, she will receive dislike and detraction, and this will
mortify and vex her. She will be too indolent to find employment to
occupy her mind, and thus time will hang heavy, and life will become a
burden—a constant scene of disappointment and trouble.
But change this woman’s _character_, and make her gentle, kind,
and obliging to all around her; make her active, industrious, neat
and orderly; give her that piety which influences the mind to be
self-denying and benevolent to others, contented with our lot, and
cheerful and resigned to all that God appoints, and such a woman will
be happy in any circumstances.
Let such a one become a domestic, and she will go around, kindly
and patiently ministering to the wants of all in the house, keeping
every thing comfortable and in order, and giving kind words, and
tender sympathy to the troubles of others. Such a one will be loved
and respected by all, and will constantly be receiving expressions of
good will, esteem and affection. Her time, filled up with useful and
benevolent deeds, will glide along, as on angels’ wings; while looking
forward to Heaven as her sure and happy home, all the little troubles
of life will seem light, and all its comforts will be doubled in value.
If, then, our happiness depends so much on the character we form, when
we calculate the advantages of any situation, we should take into
account the influence it will have on our character. Now there are some
respects in which I think the situation of domestics very favourable to
the formation of a good character.
In the first place, it is a situation in which persons form a habit
of submitting their will to the will of another, with readiness
and cheerfulness. You will always find that children who are never
governed, and who therefore never learn to give up their wills readily
and cheerfully, generally grow up to be forward, imperious, headstrong
and reckless. They go out into a world where nobody will indulge and
humour them as their parents have done. On the contrary every body is
looking out for their own rights and interests, and none are disposed
to put up with their imperious airs and selfish demands. In consequence
of this, they are always getting into trouble, always irritated, always
discontented. If they had been trained to give up their wills to others
cheerfully and readily, in early life, half these troubles would have
been escaped.
Besides this, we must remember that both in this life and forever, we
have got to learn to be happy in giving up our wills to the Great Maker
and Father of all, and the more we are trained to submission of the
will, the easier this first and greatest of all duties will become.
A person, then, who goes into a family and agrees, for a suitable
compensation, to do the work, under the direction of those who hire, is
in a state of constant training, which has a most beneficial tendency
in preparing for future life, both here and in another world. Such a
person will find it far easier to give up to her fellow creatures and
sincerely to pray, “Not my will but thine be done,” than one who never
has been subjected to any such control.
It has often and truly been said, that those only know how to command,
who have learned to obey. In proof of this, we always find that none
make such hard masters, or such severe and unreasonable parents, as
those who have never practised the duty of subordination themselves.
In this happy country, domestics have as fair a prospect as any class
of persons of becoming heads of a family, when others will have to be
controlled by them. And nothing so efficiently prepares them for such
a station, as having been themselves placed in the position which a
domestic holds.
Another very great advantage gained in domestic service is, learning
how to perform all the work of a family in a proper manner. A female
domestic has a chance to observe how the mother governs children, and
to take warning by her mistakes, and profit by her good example. She
has a chance to be with children, and to learn how to manage their
little faults, and bear with their follies.
She learns the proper modes of cooking food, of arranging a house, of
taking care of furniture, and of doing all the various kinds of work
which in future life she must either do herself, or else direct others
to do.
She learns various modes of economizing, and of systematizing work. She
acquires a habit of taking care of others, and of providing for their
comforts and wants, so as to qualify her for these benevolent services
when she has a family of her own.
She also has an employment that is healthful, because it demands a
great deal of exercise, most of it within doors, and not in any way
injurious. She also has regular daily business, and is obliged to be
industrious—and a habit of industry is one of the truest sources of
contentment and happiness.
Besides this, a domestic is brought into contact with a great variety
of tempers, and learns to accommodate, and to govern her temper and
tongue as she never could do without this kind of trial.
A domestic, too, is in a situation in which she is, all the time,
called on to give up her own ease and time to promote the comfort of
others, and this tends to make the duty of _self-denying benevolence_,
more easy to learn. This is the great duty which Jesus Christ came to
teach us by his precepts and example, and the more we can imitate him
in this, the more we shall be prepared to serve and enjoy him in that
world where he has gone, and where he invites us to prepare ourselves
to come, by imitating him.
It thus appears that if a domestic is ever to be married, she is going
through exactly the best training possible, to prepare her to conform
her will and wishes to those of her husband, to train up her children
well, and to become a neat, industrious and economical housekeeper.
If she is not to be married, she is forming a character that is best
calculated to raise up around her, in the families where she labours,
sincere and valuable friends, who will make her old age easy and
respectable. And whatever may be her future earthly lot, she is under
the best kind of training to make her a submissive, benevolent and
self denying Christian, and thus to fit her for her eternal home.
I will now show some of the reasons why the employment of a sempstress,
a shop girl, and a factory girl are inferior in advantages and
respectability to that of a domestic.